A helping of Thanksgiving football leftovers

Another slate of Thanksgiving games are in the books, but they certainly won't be forgotten for a very long time.

Monty Tech, Lunenburg, Leominster, Gardner and Nashoba Regional emerged victorious in the local 2012 rivalry games, and there were some great performances along the way that helped these teams beat their rivals. Even in defeat, however, several players did everything in their power to keep their teams in the game and give them a chance to win.

Here's a look back at all that was good on the gridiron on Thanksgiving.

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Fitchburg-Leominster

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Simply known as 'The Game,' archrivals Leominster and Fitchburg put on another fantastic show at Doyle Field in the 130th meeting overall and 107th on Thanksgiving.

With Leominster's 38-22 victory, the Blue Devils have now won four straight on Thanksgiving over Fitchburg and five overall in a row, including last year's Central Mass. Division 1 playoff game.

Fitchburg's offensive line stuck to its game plan of pounding away at Leominster's front, and Red Raider senior running back Dimitri Brasili prospered with a game-high 152 yards on 26 carries and three touchdowns. He scored on runs of 26, 6 and 6 yards.

Fitchburg quarterback Connor Lemieux, who missed the early portion of the season with a broken hand, added 80 yards on 11 carries.

For Leominster, both Neil O'Connor and James Gurley had interceptions on defense. Gurley's first-quarter pick-six went for a 45-yard touchdown to open the scoring.

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Offensively, senior quarterback Garrett DelleChiaie was in a zone, completing 9 of 10 passes for 155 yards and three touchdowns. He added 46 yards on four carries.

"He was playing really confident," said O'Connor about DelleChiaie. "He took care of the ball really well and made great decisions. He found the open guys and put it on them. He just had a great game."

DelleChiaie certainly has some weapons at his disposal, too. While O'Connor led the receiving group with four receptions for 55 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown, other targets also factored into the game plan.

Jake Allain hauled in a 50-yard touchdown, while Jarell Addo caught a 29-yard TD to open the fourth quarter.

"Neil is a good weapon out there, but everyone sleeps on all the other kids," DelleChiaie said.

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Lunenburg-St. Bernard's

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Senior bulldozing quarterback Greg Abare earned the MVP honors for his team after running for 112 yards and one touchdown on seven carries and throwing for another TD to give the Blue Knights a convincing 36-8 win over St. Bernard's at the Bernardian Bowl on Thanksgiving Eve.

Abare got the scoring started for Lunenburg with a 66-yard touchdown scamper, and junior running back Bobby Colgate scored from 46 yards out for a quick 14-0 lead.

The Blue Knights eventually led 36-0 after the third quarter. Abare hit Justin Cumming -- who also had an interception on defense -- on a 30-yard TD pass, while Cody Jacobs raced for a 20-yard TD run. Colgate added his second score of the game on a 15-yard run.

Colgate rushed for 83 yards on eight carries and scored two touchdowns.

St. Bernard's finally got on the scoreboard late with a beautiful touchdown catch by Bryan Franciosi in the back of the end zone for a 12-yard score.

Quarterback Justin Valliere looked for Franciosi early and often, as Franciosi earned St. Bernard's MVP after catching 10 passes for 77 yards. Valliere threw for 107 yards and one touchdown.

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Monty Tech-Nashoba Tech

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Quietly and without much fanfare, Monty Tech capped off a tremendous 6-5 season with a sound 36-6 victory over Nashoba Tech in Westford on Thanksgiving Eve.

"It feels great to have a winning season," Monty Tech coach Matt Sallila said after the game. "I'm so happy for my seniors and coaching staff. To finally come off the field and call ourselves winners feels great. The kids answered the call, did what we asked, and you can't get any better than that."

Not surprising was the fact that Monty Tech rode the rushing exploits of Tarsiah Murphy to victory. The senior tailback got over the 1,000-yard mark after rushing for 253 yards on 18 carries. He also found the end zone four times on TD runs of 56, 52, 48 and 30 yards.

Javoy Griffiths also scored on a 70-yard jaunt in the third quarter, and also added the conversion run.

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Nashoba-North Middlesex

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There was no upset in Townsend on Turkey Day. The Chieftains rolled into hostile territory and took care of business to remain undefeated on the season with a 46-14 triumph over the Patriots.

The Chieftains improved to 11-0 and extended their winning streak to 24 games.

Brandon Lambert, who scored on a 78-yard TD run, earned offensive MVP honors for the Pats, while quarterback Jack Sarnoski got the MVP award for Nashoba.

Sarnoski connected with Brady Schartner on a 25-yard TD pass in the second quarter, and hooked up with speed burner tailback John Ojukwu for a 5-yard TD pass in the third quarter. Ojukwu opened the scoring with a 9-yard TD run.

Nashoba's Garett Curran recovered a fumble in the end zone for another score, while North Middlesex quarterback John Boutwell went into the end zone from 1 yard out.

Despite the 3-8 overall record, North Middlesex coach Sandy Ruggles is glad to see the program turning the corner.

"We've come a long way," said Ruggles after the game. "We've reached the level of respectability."

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Gardner-Oakmont

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Backed by the solid running of Brandon Williams, host Gardner fended off archrival Oakmont en route to a 14-8 victory at Watkins Field.

Williams ran for 140 yards on 18 carries, including scoring on TD runs of 41 and 7 yards.

Williams finished the season with 1,037 rushing yards.

The game was a scoreless defensive struggle for the first three quarters, but both teams found the scoring mark in the fourth quarter.

Down 14-0, Oakmont scored with 1:18 left on AJ Allard's 1-yard TD run.

Gardner, which finished 6-5 overall, narrowly missing a postseason berth. Oakmont, which leads the overall series against Gardner, 21-12, ended the year at 4-7.

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